Counter assembly for wire products machines



July 4, 1944. G. K. GAUMER COUNTER ASSEMBLY FOR WIRE PRODUCTS MACHINES Filed Aug. 30, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 //171 EJ7 LUF George K. Gaumek July 4, 1944. G. K. GAUMER COUNTER ASSEMBLY FOR WIRE PRODUCTS MACHINES Filed Aug. 30, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 VFW 121/ 517 UP George ff: Gaumezg July 4, 1944. 3, GAUMER 2,352,622

COUNTER ASSEMBLY FOR WIRE PRODUCTS MACHINES Filed' Aug. 30, 1940 4 Shets-Sheet 3 ZIZI EHZUF eorgejfi aumer July 4, 1944.

G. K. GAUMER COUNTER ASSEMBLY FOR WIRE PRODUCTS MACHINES Filed Aug. 50, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 George K, G 6221772671 Patented July 4, 1944 COUNTER ASSEMBLY FOR WIRE PRODUCTS MACHINES George K. Gaumer, Sterling, Ill., assignor to Northwestern Steel & Wire Company, Sterling, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 30, 1940, Serial No. 354,784

Claims.

This invention relates to mechanisms for automatically counting wires or strip products made on a wire fabricating machine.

More specifically this invention relates to improved bale tie machines adapted to discharge tied-together bundles containing any predetermined number of finished bale ties.

While the invention will hereinafter be specifically described in connection with a machine for making bale ties, it should be understood that the invention is, in general, adapted for the automatic counting of a large variety of products, particularly elongated strands or strips such as, for example, wires, ribbons, rods and the like.

In the high-speed fabrication of wire products such as bale ties it is highly desirable that the fabricating machine discharge finished prodnets in bundles containing a known number of the products. It is also desirable that the collecting, bundling-together and discharging be entirely automatic in operation in order that one operator can look after a number of machines.

Heretofore bale tie machines merely discharged the finished bale ties onto a collecting platform and it was necessary to manually count, bundletogether, and move the counted and bundled-together bale ties to another machine which applied a commercial wrapping around a desired number of the bundles. The manual counting, sorting out and bundling of the long bale ties was awkward, time-consuming and expensive.

The present invention now eliminates all of this manual eiTort, and the bale tie machine discharges already bundled bale ties with each bundle containing a known number of the bale ties. It is then merely necessary to move any desired number of the bundles into the final wrapping machine.

It is, then, an object of this invention to provide apparatus for automatically counting wire products.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for counting wire products as the same are being made on a machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which collects a predetermined number of fabricated wire products and automatically discharges the collected products immediately upon receiving the last product to make up a batch of predetermined quantity.

A specific object is to provide attachments for for a bale tie machine which controls the actuation of the discharge device of the machine.

A further object is to provide a counter for a bale tie machine actuated by movement of the bale ties as they are being conveyed to a collector.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed descriptions of the annexed sheets of drawings which, by way of example, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure. 1 is a broken front elevational view of a bale tie machine accordingto this invention.

Figure 1A is a side elevational view of a bundle of bale ties produced by the machine of Figure 1.

Figure 1B is an end elevational view along the line IB-IB of Figure 1.

Figure 1C is a fragmentary vertical cross section taken along the line I C-f--IC of Figure 1.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view taken along the line III--III of Figure 2 with parts in shifted position.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line IV--IV of Figure 2 and illustrating an additional regulating device.

Figure 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of Figure 4'.

Figure 6 is an enlarged broken front elevational view of the right hand end of the machine shown in Figure 1 and also showing connections with the left hand end of the machine.

Figure 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII--VIII of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a top plan view, with a part broken away and shown in horizontal cross-section, taken along the line IX--IX of Figure 6.

Figure 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bundler assembly taken along the line X-X of Figure 12. I

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10 illustrating the bundler assembly in a different operating position. v

Figure 12 is a fragmentary broken front elevational view of the bundler assembly of this invention.

As shown on the drawings: v v I In Figure 1 the reference numeral l0 designates generally a bale tie machine mounted on suitable framing F. A feeding mechanism (not shown).

continually supplies six wires such as W through helical coil springs such as S, through a cutter C (more fully described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,278,613 issued April '7, 1942) and into open bottomed recesses I I of spaced parallel horizontal guide blocks I2 extending along the length of the machine in front of the cutter C as best shown in Figures 1 and 2. The open bottoms of the recesses I I in the guide blocks I2 are closed by bars I3 which support the wires in the recesses. These bars I3 are mounted from a sliding bar which is actuated through a rock shaft (not shown herein, but fully shown and described in my above referred to patent) controlled by the drive shaft I4 to retract the bars I3 for exposing the open bottoms of the recesses I I. The wires W are cut by the cutter G into the desired lengths after the wires are seated in the blocks I2. The bars I3 are then retracted to allow the cut wires W to drop by gravity into the pockets of endless conveyors I5 trained around sprockets I6 at spaced intervals across the length of the machine. The conveyors I5 are composed of linked-together pointed members I1 having pointed apexes and sloping side walls dividing the pockets P therebetween. These conveyors are moved intermittently to deposit each wire W onto downwardh inclined rods or ways I8 and into the notches I? of discs mounted at spaced intervals across the length of the machine on a shaft 2 I. The shaft 2| is driven intermittently in timed relation with the conveyors I5 through a ratchet wheel 22 and pawl 23 from a main cam shaft 24 extending along the length of the machine. The pawl 23 is mounted on a lever 25 which is rotatably carrier on a shaft 26 and actuated through a cam device 21 on the cam shaft 24.

The front sprockets I6 of each conveyor I5 loosely mounted on shaft 28. The rear sprockets I6 are-keyed 'on a shaft 28a (Fig. 2) intermittently driven by a ratchet and pawl connection from a cam on a shaft I02 hereinafter described; Thus the; conveyor chains I5 and the discs 20 are driven from separateratchets and pawls to have different rates of movement, but the chains are moved in timed relation with the discs so that a wire length W will be deposited into the notches oi the discs 20 when the discs are stat onary.

When the wire W is deposited in the notches I S of the discs 20 and the discs are moved to carry the wire therewith, the cut end of the wire is moved over an anvil 29 as shown in Figure 1 and under a vise 3|]. A looping member 3| is then brought into operation to turn the free end of the wire into a loop. The vise is next actuated to clamp the end portions of the wire W on the anvil. The'looped end of the wire is then twisted. to form the finished-bale tie B. T. as best shown in Figure 12.

After the bale tie hasbeen formed, the vise released from the looped end and the discs 20 are advanced to bring a new wire length into the device and to discharge the bale tie B. T. onto the guide I8 from which it falls by gravity into coilector arms 32 mounted on a shaft 33.

It should be understood that the bale tie fabrication can be modified greatly without departing from this invention. For example, a machine such as is disclosed in the Bradley Patent 1,992.- 286 can be used in connection with this invent on to form a bale tie having a bayonet slot at end and a head at the other end, as disclosed in said patent.

According to this invention, as best shown in Figures 2 and 4, a bracket 35 is secured to the main frame F at the back end of the machine and extends vertically upwardly to a level above the operating portions of the machine. A leg 35 extends forwardly from the bracket 35 and has a downturned portion 35a disposed above a con veyor I5 aligned with the disc 20. A vertical strap 3'! is bolted to the free end of the leg portion 360. and has a short horizontal flange 3la at the bottom thereof and a long horizontal flange 311) at the top thereof. Both flanges project in the same direction as shown in Figure 4.

A ratchet wheel 33 is rotatably mounted on the vertical member 31 between the flanges thereof around a stub-axle 39 carried by the member 31. The ratchet wheel 38 has a predetermined num-- ber of ratchet teeth 38a around the periphery thereof. Twenty-five of such teeth are illustrated. A plate 40 is mounted on the outer i ace of the ratchet wheel 38 and extends beyond the apices of the teeth 38a. This plate 49 is fixed to the ratchet Wheel 38 and rotates therewith. A pin 4| projects horizontally outwardly from the plate 40 between the axis and periphery of the ratchet wheel.

The horizontal top leg 31b of the member 31 has a stub-shaft 42 depending therefrom and rotatably supporting a gear or toothed wheel 43. A coil spring 44 is mounted around the stub-shaft 42 to urge the toothed Wheel 43 downwardly. This spring imparts resistance to rotation of the roll. The stubshaft 42 extends through an elongated slot 45 in the flange 31b and is held in this slot by a nut 46. The spring 44 can be compressed for the manual adjustment of the wheel in the slot. Thus the Wheel can be moved. from one end to the other end of the slot.

As shown in Figures 4 5, a predetermined number of teeth 43.0. are provided on the wheel 43 and ten such teeth are illustrated. One of the teeth 43a carries a pin 41' projecting vertically from the top face of the wheel.

The wheel 43 can be moved in the slot so that the teeth 43a thereof are driven by the pin II of the ratchet wheel 38. Likewise. the wheel 43 can be moved out of the path of the pin 4|, as shown in Figure 1.

As best shown in Figure 2, the leg 36 of the bracket 35 has an angle 48 bolted thereon with the outturned flange 48a of the angle receiving a bracket 49 having forwardly facing top and bottom horizontal flanges 49a and 4%. A vertical strap 5!] has rearwardly extending horizontal arms 5| pivoted. on the flanges 49d and 492) by means of bolts 52, supports an L-shapcd moinber 53 by means of a bolt 5d extending through an elongated slot 55 in the vertical leg 53a of the L-shaperl member. The L-shaped member 53 is thus vertically adjustable on the strap 50.

The horizontal leg 53b of the L-shaped member 53 extends forwardly and its free end is formed in the shape of a spearhead 56.

When the wheel M is mounted in the slot 45 so as to be driven by the pin 4| of the ratchet 38, the L-shaped member 53 is adjusted on the strap 5!] so that the spearhead 55 will lie in the path of the pin 41 on the wheel 43 as shown in Figure 4. When the pin strikes a side of the spearhead 56 as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the entire strap assembly 50 will be swung about the pivots 52 toward the left-hand end or inlet end of the machine.

When the wheel 43 is moved out of the path 4| as illustrated in Figure 1, the L-shaped bracket can be adjusted so that the spearhead 56 will be in the path of the pin 4| of the ratchet wheel 38. When this pin strikes the side of the spearhead it will swing the strap assembly in the same manner described above. v

The strap 50 has a horizontal bottom flange 50a carrying a block 59 in which is secured the end of a rod 60 extending horizontally to the right-hand end of the machine as shown in Figure 1.

As best shown in Figure 2, the bottom flange 31a of the member 31 carries a bracket 6| forwardly of the member 31. This bracket 6| is generally triangular-shaped and has a pivot pin 62 atthe apex thereof pivotally supporting a pawl arm 63. The top end 63a of ,the arm 63 is bifurcated and carries a pawl 64 on a pin 65 mounted in the furcations. The pawl 64 has a free end 6411 projecting into the path of the ratchet teeth 38a for driving the ratchet wheel as will be hereinafter described. The pawl 64 also has a tail portion 64b projecting toward the front end of the machine beyond the bifurcated end 63a of the arm 63.

A platform 66 is mounted on the arm 63 beneath the portion 84b of the pawl and a compression spring 61 is interposed between the platform and the tail of the pawl.

The pawl arm 63 has a yoke member 68 secured to the lower end thereof with the yoke arms'of the member embracing the periphery of a disc 20 and lying in the path of the bale ties carried by the disc. Rotation of the discs 20 to move the bale ties into the collecting arms 32 causes the arm 63 to tilt about its pivot 62 and thereby move the pawl 64 against a ratchet tooth 38a for advancing the ratchet wheel one step. It will be noted from Figure 2 that the arm 63 is so balanced as to assume the position shown in solid lines and is only driven out of this position by a bale tie as shown in dotted lines. When the bale tie clears the yoke carried by the arm, the arm will swing by gravity and force of the spring 61 back to the position shown in solid lines. The advancement of the arm from the position shown in solid lines to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4 causes a drivingof the ratchet wheel through the pawl 64 for the distance of one tooth.

The base corners of the bracket 5| carry set screws 69 which limit the amount of travel of the arm 63.

The pivotal connection of the pawl 64 with the arm and the spring 6'! permits the pawl to be manually disengaged from the ratchet wheel 38 in the event that a bale tie produced by the machine and causing a driving of the pawl is .i;

defective. The advancement of the ratchet wheel can thus be stopped to make up for any number of defective bale ties.

From the above descriptions it therefore should be understood that the bale ties themselves drive the pawl 64 for advancing the ratchet wheel 38. Since this ratchet wheel has twenty-five teeth the pin 4! carried thereby will actuate either the toothed wheel 43 or the spearhead 56 once for every twenty-five bale ties. The pin 41 on the ratchet 33 must actuate the ten teeth of the wheel 43 before the pin 47 actuates the spearhead. Thus the device, without the use of the wheel 43, automatically counts twenty-five bale ties, and with the use of the wheel 43 automatically counts two hundred and fifty bale ties. However, visible indicating means are not provided, since the counting is entirely automatic and foolproof.

As shown in Figure 1, the rod 60 extends to the right hand end of the machine and may, of course, be slidably suspended along its length. As also indicated in Figure 6, the end 60a of the rod 60 is threaded and receives in threaded relation thereon a coupling member 10 which carries a vertical rod H having a horizontal offset portion Ha with the free end thereof acting against a locking member 12 pivotally supported from a bar 13 which is welded to a strap member 14 carried in fixed relation to a part of the main frame F. The locking member 12 has a spring 15 secured thereon and anchored to the carrier 13 to urge the locking member against the end of the rod portion Ha.

A clutch arm 18 is swingably mounted from the frame behind the member 14 and pivotally carries a lever H on a pivot pin 18 positioned intermediate the ends of the lever. A spring [9 acts between the left hand free end of the lever 71 and the support member 13 to urge the right hand end of the lever downward.

The locking member 12 has a notched portion 12a providing a shoulder 12b adapted to thrust against the left hand free end of the lever and hold the same down, thereby raising the right hand end of the lever. When the spearhead of the counting mechanism is not moved by the pin on either the ratchet 38 or wheel 43 the locking member 12 is in the position shown in Figure 1. However, when the spearhead is moved by a pin to shift the rod 60 toward the left end or inlet end of the machine, the portion Ha of the depending rod H is moved to the left to swing the locking member 12 clear of the lever '11, thereby permitting the spring 19 to act on the lever. The lever then assumes the position shown in Figure 6.

A cam member is freely mounted around the cam shaft 24 of the machine. The cam member an consists of a hub portion 80a and a large, solid disc portion 80b integral with the hub portion 86a. A cam face 8| is built up on the hub 80a and left-hand face of the disc 80b as best shown in Figure 6. This cam face 8| acts on the lever 11. When the locking member 12 holds the lever against the upward spring pull as in the position shown in Figure 1, the other end of the lever is on the high spot of the cam face as shown in Figure 7. However, when the rod end Ila moves the locking member to free the lever, the spring 19 pulls the lever so that the same will drop to a low spot on the cam face as shown by the arrows in Figure 7.

The shaft 24 has a driven clutch member 82 slidably mounted thereon and urged toward the hub a of the cam member 83 by means of a compression spring 83. The compression spring acts against a block 84 rotated with the shaft 24 and providing a recess 84a into which the clutch member 82 can slide. The clutch arm 16 is yoked to the clutch member 32 and, when the lever 11 is dropped to a low spot on the cam, the clutch arm '56 is free to move to the right and the spring 83 will urge the clutch member into recesses such as 800 provided in the hub 80a of the cam 80. The cam will then be driven with the shaft 24 and rotation of the cam face 8| will again move the lever 11 to the high spot on the cam face, thus disengaging the clutch 82 since the lever acts on the clutch arm. In the meantime, the locking member 12 has returned to the position shown in Figure 1 to hold the lever on the high spot.

As shown in Figures 6 and 9 a boss member 85 is freely mounted on the shaft 24 to the right of the cam 89. This boss has a track defining arm 86 extending forwardly and supported at its forward end in bearings 81. on the end of the collector arm shaft 33. A rack 88 is slidably mounted on the track 86 and meshes with a pinion 33a on the shaft 33. The inner end of the rack member 88 carries a roller pin 89 which rides in a cam groove 90 formed in the right hand face of the cam disc 80b, Rotation of the cam disc by the clutch moves the rack 88 in and out in accordance with the pattern of the cam groove 90.

The in and out movement of the rack 88 will cause rotation of the shaft 33 so that the arms 32 will dump their load and be returned for receiving a new batch of bale ties.

The rack 88 has an inclined shoulder 38a formed on the left hand side thereof for acting on the beveled end of a rod 9|. The rod 9| extends along the whole length of the machine to the left-hand end thereof and acts on a clutch arm 92 carried thereby for controlling a clutch 93 slidably mounted on a wrapping shaft 94. The clutch 93 is adapted to engage with a dog carried by a small pinion 95.

As shown in Figure 1B, the machine III is driven from a main drive shaft I at the left hand end of the machine on the rear thereof, A gear I00a on this shaft I00 meshes with and drives a large gear II on a shaft I02. The shaft I02 extends into the machine and connects through a gear train I02a with the main cam shaft 24 to constantly drive the shaft. A cam on the shaft I02 as shown in Figure 2 drives the pawl which drives the ratchet to move the converer chains I step by step. A large gear I03 is loosely mounted on the left hand end of the shaft 24 and is intermittently advanced through a 120 are by means of crank arm I03a driven by the gear WI and driving a ratchet I032; best shown in Figure 1C, The ratchet has three teeth I330 each 120 apart formed on a plate I03d loosely mounted around the shaft 24 but secured directly to the gear I03. A pawl I03e driven by the crank I 03a meshes with the teeth.

The gear I03, therefore, is intermittently advanced through arcs of 120 to intermittently drive the pinion 95 and another pinion I04. The pinion 95 drives the clutch 93 and the pinion I03 drives a shaft I05 controlling other parts of the machine. The main cam shaft 24 is constantly driven.

The wrapping shaft 94 is thus rotated when the clutch 93 is engaged by the control rod 9|. The right hand end of the shaft 94, as best shown in Figure 12, has a wrapping finger IEJ'I. The wrapping finger I01 is substantially U-shaped to clear the looped ends of the bale ties and the right hand end of the finger carries a wrapping pin I08 for acting on a wrapping wire to tie together a plurality of bale ties as will be hereinafter described.

The collector arms shaft 33 has a disc IIO secured thereon by means of a locking pin III directly in front of the wrapping pin I08. The disc IIO will therefore rotate with the shaft 33. The disc IIO has a cam surface IIiIa defining a cutting shoulder I I2 on the periphery of the disc.

A disc I I3 is loosely mounted on the shaft 33 to the right of the disc H0 and has a leg I I311. projecting from the periphery thereof. An adjustable stop bolt I I4 is threaded in the leg I I3a and serves as an anchor for the end of a rawhide strip or strand of other flexible wear-resisting material I I5. The other end of the rawhide strip H5 is anchored to a tension spring Ill-i which is carried by the frame of the machine and which serves to pull the floating disc H3 in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in Figure .10.

The floating disc II3 has a head portion I II which overlaps the disc III) as shown in Figure 12. This head portion II'I carries a cutter block I I8 over the periphery of the disc H0, The cutter block H8 and the head In define a segmental cylindrical recess II9 adapted to receive the bale ties therethrough.

The main frame of the machine F has a stationary guide I20 bolted thereon (Figure 10) for guiding the ends of the bale ties into the recess H9 and for cooperating with the guiding wires I8 described hereinabove. A bracket I2I is also bolted on the main frame of the machine and depends downwardly therefrom into adjoining relation with the disc II3. An abutment I2Ia is formed on the bracket I2I for preventing retraction of the head II'I beyond the position shown in Figure 10 and for acting on the stop bolt II4 as shown in Figure 11.

This bracket I2I also carries a tube I22 through which is fed a wrapping wire I23 from a spool or other suitable source (not shown) mounted on the machine. The wrapping wire I23 is initially guided over the cutting portion I I2 of the driven disc H0 and thence into the path of the wrapping pin I08 as shown in Fig ures l0 and 12.

When the cam pin 89 initially acts on the rack 38 it rotates the shaft 33 to move the collector arms 32 from the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 10 to the position shown in solid lines. This causes the collector arms to cooperate with the recess II9 of the cutter head IIS and form the bale ties into a round bundle. The movement of the rack is then reversed by the cam track and the shaft 33 is rotated in the opposite direction to drive the disc H0 in a clockwise direction as shown by the arrows in Figure 10. In the meantime, however, the rod 9| has been actuated by the shoulder 88a of the rack 88 to engage the clutch 93 and cause the rapid rotation of the shaft 94 which spins the wrapping pin I08 through two complete revolutions to wrap the leading end of the wire I23 around the bale ties B. T. During the spinning of the wrapping pin I08 the disc IIO continues to rotate at a slower speed in the clockwise direction, and this causes the cutting shoulder II2 to clamp the wire against the cutting head Ill thus pulling the wire through the tube I22 and moving the floating disc II3 with the disc H0 against the tension of the spring I IS. The floating disc I I3 continues to rotate with the disc IIO until the stop bolt H4 strikes the abutment '2? as shown In Figure 11. Upon striking the abutment the floating disc I I3 is stopped but the disc IIO continues to rotate for shearing off the wire between the cutting head H1 and the cutting shoulder II2 as shown in Figure 11. The wire therefore no longer is clamped between the disc I I0 and the cutting head I I1, and the spring H6 can therefore pull the disc II3 back into the position shown in Figure 10, with the cutting head In abutting the top portion of the abutment I2Ia. When this happens, however, sufficient Wire has been pulled through the tube to leave a leading end in the position shown in Figure 12 for the next wrapping operation. The severed wire has been wrapped around the bale ties as shown in Figure 11 by the wrapping pin I08 for two complete revolutions and the collector arms 32 have been moved to a dump position as shown in Figure 11 so that the bale tie bundle can drop by gravity out of the machine, as shown in Figure 1A.

As shown in Figure 8 the cam track 90 moves in a counter-clockwise direction and the pin 89 is initially in the position shown in solid lines. Upon movement of the cam through the arc X, the pin moves to the position shown in dotted lines at 89. This throws the rack 88 outwardly from the shaft 24 to move the collector arms 32 from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in solid lines in Figure 10, thereby tightening and shaping the collected bale ties. The pin 89 then rides through the entire arc Y of the cam track without further moving the rack 88. However, during this arc the rod 9| has caused engagement of the clutch 93 so that the wrapping pin I08 is in operation. The cam track then moves the pin to the position shown in dotted lines at 89 as the cam track advances through the arc Z. This movement of the pin pulls the rack 83 in toward the shaft thereby rotating the shaft 33 so that the collector arms 32 will be moved to the dump position shown in Figure 11, and so that the cutting disc will be rotated to the position shown in Figure 11. When the pin 89 reaches its innermost position, as shown at 89", the wire has been sheared and the cutter head H1 is being returned by the spring H6 back to starting position. The Wrapped bale tie bundle has also been dumped out of the arms 32. The remaining path of travel on the cam track 93 brings the pin back to the starting position shown in solid lines at 89. Upon reaching this position the lever 17 has also reached the high spot on the cam face Bl to disengage the clutch 82 and stop operation of the cam. The collector arms then remain in their collecting position until the counting device again actuates the clutch 82.

From the above descriptions it should be clearly understood that this invention now provides for the automatic counting of wire products as they are made on a fabricating machine. The counting device can be regulated so as to actuate the bundling of the counted products and the discharge of the bundle from the machine as soon as any predetermined number of products have been made by the machine. In the one embodiment of the invention, a pawl device can act on a ratchet wheel which in turn acts directly on a throw member to initiate the wrapping and discharging operations. In another embodiment of the invention the ratchet wheel can act on another toothed wheel which is readily thrown into operation by mere movement into the path of the ratchet wheel. In the illustrated embodiment the ratchet wheel will count twenty-five bale ties on a bale tie making machine whereupon feeding of the twenty-fifth tie into a collector initiates the wrapping of the twenty-five ties together and the discharge of the wrapped bundle out of the machine. In the other embodiment the ratchet wheel acts on another toothed wheel containing ten teeth, and this wheel must be turned through a complete revolution before initiating the wrapping and discharging operations. In such event, the bundle will contain two hundred and fifty bale ties. It is obvious that the number of bale ties in a. bundle is readily controllable by the ratchet teeth or gear teeth on the counting mechanism.

When the predetermined number of bale ties have been made the counter will effect positive movement of the locking member to unlock a lever which then drops to a low spot on a cam surface and allows engagement of a driving clutch. The clutch will drive another cam track to control a rack and pinion for moving'the collector device to shape the collected bale ties into a tight bundle. This movement also causes the engagement of another clutch which throws the wrapping device into operation for wrapping two complete turns of a wirefaround the collected bale ties. The wrapped wire is then severed and the cam track reverses the movement of the collector and disengages the wrapping device for dumping the finished bundle out of the machine.

It will, of course, be understood that'vario'us details of construcion may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a wire products fabricating machine including means for conveying wire products in spaced relation, a pawl device arranged to be tripped by each wire product, a ratchet operated by said pawl device, shiftable means adjustably mounted on the machine actuated by said ratchet, and a toothed wheel adjustably mounted on the machine inserted between said ratchet and said shiftable means to be driven by the ratchet for controlling the shiftable means the adjustment of the shiftable means and the toothed wheel being provided so that the shiftable means can be selectively operated once for each revolution of the ratchet or for each revolution of the wheel.

2. A counter for a wire products fabricating machine comprising a toothed ratchet wheel, a pawl device arranged to be tripped by each wire prod.- uct passing through the machine for advancing the ratchet wheel a distance equivalent to one tooth thereof, a pin projecting from a side face of the ratchet wheel, a toothed wheel adjustably mounted on said machine and having a predetermined number of teeth thereon in the path of said pin on the ratchet wheel, a pin on the toothed wheel, shiftable means adjustably mounted on the machine to be actuated by said pin on the toothed wheel, and the adjustment of said toothed wheel and said shiftable means being efiective for direct actuation of the shiftable means by said pin on the ratchet wheel whereby the shiftable means can be selectively operated by a number of wire products equivalent to the number of teeth on the ratchet or by a number of wire products equivalent to the number of teeth on the ratchet multiplied by the number of teeth on the toothed wheel.

3. A counter for a wire product fabricating machine including mechanism for conveying wire products in spaced relation which comprises a device arranged to be tripped by each wire product, a shiftable means adjustably mounted on the machine actuated by said device upon predetermined amount of movement of the device, and means adjustably mounted on the machine inserted between said device and said shiftable means to be driven by the device for controlling the shiftable means, the adjustment on the shiftable means and the means being provided so that the shiftable means can be selectively operated at variable amounts of movement of the device.

4. In a wire products fabricating machine including means for feeding wire products in spaced relation, a pawl device arranged to be tripped by each wire product, a ratchet operated by said pawl device, shiftable means adjustably mounted on the machine actuated by said ratchet, and an intermediate means adjustably mounted on the machine inserted between said ratchet and said shiftable means to be driven by the ratchet for controlling the shiftable means, the adjustment of the shiftable means and the intermediate'means being provided so that the shiftable means can be selectively operated directly from said ratchet or through said intermediate means.

5. A counter for a wire products fabricating machine comprising a toothed ratchet, a pawl device arranged to be tripped by each wire prodnot passing through the machine for advancing the ratchet, a cam projecting from said ratchet, adjustable shiftable means actuated by said ratchet, and an adjustable intermediate rotatable device disposed between said cam and said shiftable means for controlling said shiftable means, the adjustments of the shiftable means and the intermediate means being provided for varying the operation of the shiftable means relative to the operation of the pawl device.

GEORGE K. GAUMER. 

